Topic: Ron Paul
Alaska Converts McCain Delegates to Ron Paul Hope for St. Paul Convention - A successful plan proven by Alaska meetup group for converting delegates to Ron Paul nationwide.by Heather Saarela
(libertarian)
Monday, March 31, 2008
A letter from Evan Cutler - Girdwood, Alaska, District 32 Delegate for Ron Paul
Here in Alaska we grew a group of delegates after our primaries into the Alaska Ron Paul Delegates meetup. In that group we pulled together about 70 of our 110 or so Ron Paul delegates in order to work and communicate together for the seven weeks before the state convention.
We did one project that I think bears replication, both for states with pending State Conventions, but also, and most importantly, on a national level, before the St. Paul Convention. First, we realized that mainstream media had been almost completely ignoring Dr. Paul.
According to my own study, which I can provide to Nolan Chart, of the 2,188 mainstream media stories about presidential candidates between January 14th and February 10th, only 4 were about Dr. Ron Paul. Contrast that to:
756 stories about Hillary Clinton 760 stories about Barack Obama 674 stories about about John McCain 424 stories about Mitt Romney 281 stories about Mike Huckebee
While we set the world record for single day campaign contributions the month before, our candidate was virtually ignored just one month later!
So, what could we do? We decided to send our own media, in the form of a DVD, to every single registered delegate and alternate in Alaska before the state convention, on the grounds that at least they could have a chance to learn who Dr. Paul was. This would help counter that "fringe" candidate label the media was applying to Dr. Paul.
And it worked! Not as well as we might have liked, but very well indeed. We found a lot more support at the convention as most the delegates who watched it never before had the opportunity to learn about Dr. Paul before, and many found they were far more in agreement with Dr. Paul, than with John McCain.
I believe we could improve on what we did here in Alaska. We have five months. With the proper support, we could manage a campaign that sends a DVD each month for four months to the national delegates and alternates going to St. Paul. It is far less expensive to have a directed campaign toward 6,900 delegates and alternates, than it is to reach 150 million voters.
I'm willing to help, but not to run this project alone--or at least not run it alone without income; I organized our own project in my spare time, which became none existent for the two weeks it took to make it happen. You can view (and even get your own copy of) our effort here:
Replicating (and Improving) this DVD Project on a National Scale
I'm already finding there is interest among other organizers to help make this happen on a national scale! When I suggested the larger scale project to a national Ron Paul Organizers meetup, I was immediately contacted by organizers from North Carolina, South Carolina, and Colorado who also liked the idea. Two of these organizers are planning similar projects now in their states.
My model imagines a series of four DVD's, one sent each month, to each National Delegate and Alternate we can identify. As we get closer to September, more and more will be chosen and identified, so the mailings will get successively larger. This means the most important DVD will be the last one.
We will find a way to allow each state to know their prorated share of manufacturing cost, and use a chip in to pay for it together. This will allow very professional manufacturing at the lowest cost per unit. Then, we will drop ship each DVD as it is ready, to the Ron Paul organizers in each state, who will use their meetups to address and stuff the envelopes to the national delegates in their states. Handwritten addresses and colorful postage stamps of super heroes will get people to open these envelopes.
The DVD cover information will get people to place the DVDs in their players. The content will draw them in and make them thirst to learn more. What they learn will help make them our allies at the convention, so there is no such thing as "US versus Them." Ron Paul Delegates and Activists in every state will call their respective non Ron Paul delegates and make sure they received their DVDs. We have an advantage in this campaign on a national level, as compared to what already worked in Alaska.
We have more time to prepare each video, and to allow people to watch and reflect upon each one. We did pretty well with just a couple weeks lead time on the Alaska Delegate DVD Project. Now we have more weeks of prep time just till the first mailing, then a month more for each successive mailing.
One of the challenges will be to invent that content. As a group, Alaskan delegates did a great job on choosing content for the Alaska DVD, and there is no time like the present to start brainstorming what will go in the series envisioned.
Would you please help me brainstorm a strategic outline of content for this video series?
Let's include the best of the best material we all know of. I will assemble and present brainstorms to the national Ron Paul Organizer and Activists communities for further feedback, and try to settle on a final syllabus all can appreciate.
The purpose here is to educate delegates to the national convention on the most important issues that need to be addressed by the Republican Party. Choosing Ron Paul is of course, our top priority, but there is so much more to share! Remember, we can use these DVD's to propose and explain and advocate for resolutions we will bring to the floor (or try to), so that even regardless of the presidential nominee, the party platform changes.
Some of us retain hope in our hearts and the will to prepare for success. Perhaps to others, we look like Rocky Balboa on the verge of passing out in his first heavy weight fight. But no one knows our real strength comes from the righteousness of our cause. What we seek is not only reasonable, but in every freedom loving American's interest.
The project lets us stop complaining about the media, because we are producing media instead. Think of this opportunity to educate the national leaders of the Republican Party. Already there is national support for this project.
I need all of you who are interested to join in.
If any more of you want to help, please let me know, share your ideas, and let's once again show America what happens when Ron Paul supporters band together to share a dream. This week, I will start a national website dedicated to organizing this project. Send me an email at EvanAlaska@aol.com with "Join National DVD Project" in the subject and I will be sure to invite you to collaborate with us. If you have content suggestions, links, permissions to use content, please type "DVD Content Suggestions" in the subject line.
Evan Cutler EvanAlaska@aol.com Girdwood, Alaska, District 32 Delegate for Ron Paul Organizer Alaska Ron Paul Delegates Meetup Organizer of the Alaska Ron Paul Delegates DVD for Delegates Project Organizer of the National Ron Paul Delegates DVDs for Delegates Project
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The views expressed in this
article are those of Heather Saarela only and do not represent
the views of Nolan Chart, LLC or its affiliates. Heather Saarela is
solely responsible for the contents of this article and is not an
employee or otherwise affiliated with Nolan Chart, LLC in his/her role as a columnist.
Posted By: Jahfre Fire Eater
Date: 2008-03-31 11:55:37
Good job! I hope the delegates watch the DVD. I have gotten so many DVDs handed to me but people at meetings over the past 6 months the stack is nearly 6 inches high. I watched a few minutes of some of them. Mostly they were Alex Jones crap or John Birch Society propaganda....nothing that would interest or motivate me.
The DVD's you are proposing sound far more useful. Good Luck!
Posted By: The Concerned
Date: 2008-03-31 12:35:52
If this is true, I hope that the DVDs not only get spread amongst the delegates, but eventually make it to more voters and the internet. Can you imagine how many more people would know about him if they got such? Granted a number may throw it out as junk mail, but those who are concerned or curious may find that they like Ron Paul more and spread it amongst their fellows. You can even aim at universities and colleges. Perhaps that will be the next step in politics: Every candidate makes a DVD presentation highlighting what they plan to do and what their primrary goals in office wil be. Perhaps this is a new step to cheaper advertising and explanations!
Posted By: Jake in Seattle
Date: 2008-03-31 13:54:42
Unfortunately in our 34th District of Seattle GOP officials blocked our attempts to view the delegate list. Only McCain organizers were allowed to view the list under the auspices that McCain "is the nominee". During the district caucus this past weekend it was very clear McCain supporters were scared that Ron Paul supporters might score delegates & so they did everything possible to dominate the delegate selection process. Had we been able to obtain the delegate list and send them each a DVD perhaps they might not have been so eager to silence us. Oddly enough very few McCain supporters had any idea what McCain's platform was, they simply wanted to "look good" among the fellow Republicans by voting for the "presumed nominee". Baaaaaaaa.
Posted By: Michael Blomquist
Date: 2008-03-31 15:49:17
It is time for Dr. Paul to fully embrace our Constitution and call for impeachment hearings of Bush and Cheney. There is plenty of evidence of economic crimes and Constitutional violations. RP wants no FED and the current admin wants to give the FED more power....What?
1) Paulson should be arrested for aiding and abetting loan and bank fraud. While he was at the helm of Goldman Sachs most of this toxic debt was originated and also sold through GS. His latest proposal is treason against the people and our treasury.
2) The constant blame placed on state regulators is false and only conceals the real problem. See Eliot Spitzer http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/13/AR2008021302783.html
3) Karl Denninger writes: http://market-ticker.denninger.net/2008/03/articles-of-impeachment-bear-stearns.html please sign petition
4) The Executive branch issued a directive to the FBI to NOT prosecute fraud for housing. Under the United States Constitution our President is charged with caring for the faithful execution of law. As alleged by Spitzer, Denninger and myself (FBI directive); this is not a question of negligence, but obstruction of justice.
You must get up off your butt and demand impeachment, restoration of our constitution and rule of law.
A different regulatory structure will not solve the problem. A lack of law enforcement is the problem.
Awesome article, and very informative. You have our support down here in California. I sure do miss Alaska, it was my home for over 20 years, looking forward to moving back soon. I wish you both well, and hope Ron Paul's message continues to spread. Great idea!
When will people get it that even the best political or other means is secondary to a change in the hearts and minds of people. Education, information, and using the Internet as an information source is important because TV almost hypnotizes people back into the mainstream (elite) viewpoint. Even after seeing the light we are right back into the programmed thinking of the distortionists. There have been so many breakthroughs in every field from political science to the hard sciences, from negotiations to sociology and psychology that can handle the 21st century, but everyone seems oblivious the outstanding findings. With information doubling every three and a half years, few are keeping up. The problem, or rather the solution in psychology is that no matter all the logic, people are lead by their emotions and the subconscious programming assaulting them from all angles. Emotions are only partly controlled. Anger, hate, predjudice, and over concern for ourselves in a dangerous world obliterate thinking. Science now tells us we don't think, but are a broken record of our same old thoughts with nothing much really new. Ever try to control your emotions and just "be as happy as you want to be"? Probably not. We have to know how to do it.
There are ways to control out emotions to think more clearly. Science tells us that one of the major solutions is in knowing that we are controlled, by words. A simple shift to descriptive words from say judgmental or emotional words opens up the subconscious as it seems we have a very rational mind back in there somewhere that can sort out all the confusion and complexity of modern life. Then people can see for themselves the rational course and consequences of their programmed thinking. This process is an adventure that I felt immediately on switching from emotion and opinion charged words to descriptive ones. If it doesn't happen immediately with you look into Emotional Intelligence. Twenty years of study in that area has produced mountains of material, but you probably only need the basics. Another trick is to use only positive words to counterbalance all the negativity in the world and get in sych with the unemotional subconscious mind and your intuition. And don't reject any odd thoughts as the brain is trying to tell you something. Even Einstein noted that "If a thought doesn't seem wrong at first, there's no hope for it."
When you get on track with this 180 degree turn in thinking, hopefully you will pursue where it all takes you as the new mindset is the answer for the complexities of now and give a person both increased mental capacity and paradoxically, better judgment. I think a word to the wise is enough as most don't respond to any amount of information. I have tipped you off but you are going to have to pursue these things and get it into the subconcious and the heart to get the maximum results. Half hearted effort gets half hearted results. And turn off the TV.
p.s. You get in contact with all the joy, love and peace inside as well, not to mention the spirit of truth. luv
Posted By: Carl Buschmann
Date: 2008-03-31 18:40:51
This is a really good idea and initial reports say it has proven itself and could be better.
OK then consider this - Whatever the mind can conceive so it can acheive. Therefore - Just do it. Sound familiar?
If I might add this. Use it for your stated purpose and add to it to transform this into a monthly News DVD that is catagorized. There is alot of room on a DVD which means it can hold alot of information. This could be used for education of we the people which is needed to take back our Constitution, Bill of Rights, and our government. All the news in a month could be put in it. Would be cheaper than buying the lying by omission MSM newspapers and magazines that you buy each month. The possibilities here are endless seems like.
Durn if we are not seeing some progress. Good solid progress.
We'll need that website to explore ideas together.
YOU GUYS REALLY HIT ONE WITH THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We network this and it could nopt be stopped. What could be accomplished in a year after what you all have done is mind boggling.
Posted By: Tom Martinson
Date: 2008-03-31 19:22:03
I agree. Very well done. You folks in Alaska are an inspiration to us all. Count me in.
To Jake in Seattle, we have a similar problem here in Missouri. After the coordination of the Ron Paul supporters, others found out and loaded up some of the county caucus’ with establishment Republicans. This resulted in few if any Ron Paul supporters being elected as delegates. Other counties had a resounding turnout of Ron Paul supporters and took over the caucus electing 90% or more Ron Paul supporters as delegates. The establishment Republicans are now fighting back. One fellow received an email stating that blocking Ron Paul delegates from the state convention is now their goal.
I look at it this way. I agree with Evan in Alaska. After our county caucus, only 1 Ron Paul supporter was elected to the District and 3 to state. Several of us are alternates. However many issues were raised during the discussion of the Republican platform, such as the Patriot Act, Real ID, Winner-take-all, and the Council on Foreign Relations. Many did not know about these issues and did not want to vote on them. Afterwards I had a long talk with several of them explaining what liberties we’ve lost due to certain laws (i.e.Patriot Act). They were very receptive. One lady thanked me and said, Now I need to go home and look up all this stuff.
Jake, if you can find out 1 delegate and provide a DVD to that one person, you might be able to convince that one person to help you get the DVDs to the rest of the delegates. That one delegate should be able to find out the rest of them.
I believe, if we get DVDs made that explain each issue clearly based on the Constitution (as Ron Paul does) and Natural Law, people will be more eager to listen. Once they are informed on the issues and John McCain exposed for what he really stands for, the delegates will be more inclined to vote at their state conventions to change the rules and free the delegates to vote for whom they wish (obviously Dr. Paul).
Evan, I will pass this on to the leaders in the 3 meetup groups that I am a member. Obviously I don’t know what’s on your DVD but if we clear up the issues and use the DVDs to educate people about the Federal Reserve, Patriot Act, Real ID, etc. we would have a better chance of success.
This is a very excellent and powerful idea. This is an alternative channel to MSN. Big problem with Copyright, might be. Would like feedback what works and what don’t. Several people have reported good results by starting with America: Freedom to Fascism http://www.freedomtofascism.com/ I like RP take on the Neo Conservative very much: Neo–CONNED! by Congressman Ron Paul (FULL) 56min[link edited for length] And this: RP - Why Are Americans So Angry? 49minhttp://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2075686410728803039 And many from RPs own channel: [link edited for length] An in conclusion. Lots of RP DVDs here for $1: [link edited for length] I yield back.
This is a very excellent and powerful idea. This is an alternative channel to MSN. Big problem with Copyright, might be.
Would like feedback what works and what don’t. Several people have reported good results by starting with America: Freedom to Fascism [link edited for length]
I like RP take on the Neo Conservative very much: Neo–CONNED! by Congressman Ron Paul (FULL) 56min[link edited for length]
All this wasted time, libertarian-lite...you guys remind me of a hampster spinning in a wheel. You guys put out a lot of effort and in the end...you will accomplish nothing.
Question...have you heard of a democratic republican or an independent democract why because there is a Democratic Pary and an Independent party...so how does a Libertarian Republican sound...it should sound stupid. Delegates, these delegates aren't going to "convert" to Paul, and if they did it would be the most unlibertarian thing in the history of this country because it would turn off half the population to the libertarian message and most obvious fact...Obama or Clinton would crush Paul...I guess they may just let you guys through if they feel McCain might loose.
Give it up...switch to the real Libertarian Party and put your efforts to work there and distance yourself as far away from Ron Paul as possible unless he comes back to the Libertarian Party.
People/Delegates are stubborn once they have made up their minds concerning their candidate. There must be a hook for McCain Republicans to put the DVD into the player and give it a listen. The title is very, very important. Examples:
McCain and the Constitution.
McCain: How do the Others Measure Up?
Who Wouldn't Vote for McCain?
How McCain Could Landslide.
Of course every one of these are going to measure McCain against the Constitution, and the only one left standing will be Ron Paul.
I wish you the best and I think you are doing a great job. Feel free to contact me.
Of course get into the history of the truly conservative GOP and how it has lost it's way. Again RP the only one standing.
You would have to give the DVD to everyone at once...if someone sees it in advance they could poison the rest of the group. Maybe an "unknown" person passing them out as they leave the meeting?
I agree completely with Freedom4Me - must have a very eye-catching title in order to draw people in. In addition, these DVDs need to appeal to people EMOTIONALLY. That, in my opinion, is a large reason why our campaign didn't do well - Dr. Paul's ideas make rational sense, but he isn't a schmoozer like Obama who makes people swoon. Use powerful, moving music to really sell the message on this video.
If it's possible, it would be AWESOME to include the video, "Ron Paul: A New Hope" somewhere on one of the DVDs. It's a very emotionally moving video - it speaks to people. One of our meetup members included it in a 30-minute "Ron Paul infomercial" that he put together for a local cable station, and he got great results - sometimes instant conversions to Ron Paul by people who watched it!
Thanks so much for spearheading this project - I want to help in any way that I can!
(BTW, those who are recommending things like A:FTF - you're missing the point. Videos like that don't win votes, at least not from die-hard GOPers. )
You are receiving this email because you are one of the 130 (and counting) people who wrote to me directly, inquiring into one or many aspects of the DVDs for Delegates Project over the past week. You were responding to the project I outlined in an article that was posted to Nolan Chart and many other websites last week.
The National DVDs for Delegates Project is beginning, as of today, and I wanted to invite you all to join.
We did a great job on the Alaska DVDs for Delegates Project, and this is the next step.
In order to manifest his project as a national team, I've created a new meetup group.
Please visit [link edited for length] and apply to join if you are interested. Make sure you answer your profile questions, so I can know it's you. I'm only approving people who identify themselves, for the obvious reasons.
I hope all of you who are major organizers in your state or region will consider joining this new group—we will need representatives who are tied into the grassroots from every state.
This will be a big meetup group--but don't worry, I am turning off the group email function, so most conversation in this group will be limited to the Message Board.
This meetup group will be our first draft organizational tool for this project, though I expect to use other websites to promote and collect resources needed for this project once the FEC, finance, and other legal and technical issues have been properly vetted though our discussions here.
This is an ambitious but very doable project. Together, we will make history.
Evan Cutler
Organizer, National DVDs for Delegates Project and Meetup
Organizer, Alaska’s DVD’s for State Delegates Project
Organizer, Alaska Ron Paul Delegates Meetup
Girdwood, Alaska, District 32 State Delegate
National DVDs For Delegates Project
The purpose of this Ron Paul Meetup Topic is to facilitate grassroots project brainstorming, planning, and completion of the National DVDs for Delegates Project.
Between now and mid-August, we will create, manufacture, and distribute a series of four DVDs to the mailing addresses of all identified Delegates and Alternates to the 2008 GOP Convention in Saint Paul.
This project will utilize the best of existing redistributable video content, and may require the creation of select new content.
Our goal is to use this opportunity to communicate important information to GOP Delegates. We will share media containing perspectives new to most delegates, media blacked out by the 5 mega-corporations who currently ignore the Ron Paul Constitutional Message from their news and other media coverage.
Posted By: Robert Holloway
Date: 2008-05-18 09:48:59
In regard to the Nevada convention that was shut down prematurely because the Ron Paul faction was poised to win most of the delegates, I am raising some money for a newspaper ad that will urge the state party leadership to reconvene the convention. There is more information at the following link:
Count me in. It seems clear that many republicans are not impressed with McCain, so the opening is there. One point I would suggest is to remember the idea of the Ron Paul Revolution and "spread the ideas" that our Champion of the Constitution supports. That as some type of entry statement might get the initial attention of the hard line McCain supporters to inquire further by watching the rest of the video(s).
dvd here to copy and hand out to my local delegates as I have more time than money and also I am sure my money goes where I intend...I am an alternate delegate and will be going to the Minn, Nat'l Convention 3 days ahead of time to walk a couple of days with the folks walking from Green bay Wi. Do you have a job for me there...??? or now ,too...
I went to the Il.Rep.Con. last week.At one meeting I STOOD & said if they wanted a shoo in for Mc Cain tell him to state he would get rid of the WAR, Federal Reserve Bank, the IRS and the United Nations. Everyone in the room cheered and clapped. I waited til they settled down but the director ignored me & went on to the next person.
Suggest that you get permission to include a portion of "Debt as Money" that is an animated video available at YouTube.com. The portion is about the impossible exponential consumer growth curve. I have edited this video into a short transcript for clearity and can send it to you.
Ron Paul is out of date on the real problem concerning money and debt. There is no money and there is no valid debt because all there is are digital accounting units by keystroke that create the dollars expressed by numbers in data banks.
I have an article that I have written about the false lending and absence of any debt that is the real "Jeopardy...." that you can request.
We Can Still Win the GOP Nomination National DVDs for Delegates Project -- We Will Not Quit ! www.dvds4delegates.com
This Project Will Continue Through the End
Even Without the Nomination It’s Worth Reaching These Delegates
The purpose of the National DVDs for Delegates Project has not changed. We will plan, produce, and distribute a series of four educational DVDs to the roughly 4,600 Delegates and Alternates to the 2008 Republican National Convention before they get to Saint Paul in September.
Our mission is to wake up these National Delegates to the awesome responsibility they have, to do more than just hold a scripted convention, a show for the media.
Fact 1: The convention can still nominate Dr. Paul for the Presidency—even with the “Official Campaign Ending.”
Yes, Dr. Paul said he is closing the Campaign Organization. Now so he can put the $5,000,000+ in its coffers to better use than advertising for primary contests that are over.
But the Fact Remains: There is no law preventing his nomination at that convention, even with the campaign organization closing. We checked with our lawyers. Our chief lawyer was the actual Commissioner and Chair of the Federal Election Commission—he resigned in 2006, so it seems reasonable to trust their judgment on this question.
Fact 2: There is no law requiring Delegates to vote for the candidate they are “bound” to.
These Delegates are Morally Bound, not to a particular candidate, but to Represent the People who supported that candidate.
If they are presented with pertinent information that was previously hidden from them—they are Morally Bound to adapt to that information and make the best choice they can for their constituents.
Between now and mid-August, we will create, manufacture, and distribute a series of four DVDs to the mailing addresses of all identified Delegates and Alternates to the 2008 GOP Convention in St. Paul, MN. Our goal is to use this opportunity to communicate important information to GOP Delegates.
We will share media containing perspectives new to most delegates, media blacked out by the 5 mega-corporations who currently ignore the Ron Paul Constitutional Message from their news and other media coverage. Joining Us:
We welcome and encourage you to join this project.
We need committed volunteers to continue our effort to 1) plan the DVD content, 2) secure the delegate lists, 3) to organize teams in their states to address and mail the DVDs we send you, and 4) get your state to pay its share of the cost.
Donations: We do appreciate your donations for this effort, whether or not you want to participate in the work of this project. For about $20 per delegate, we can reach them all. Your state’s share can easily be computed by multiplying $20 times your state’s combined number of Delegates and Alternates. If you have 50 delegates and 50 alternates, that is 100 times $20, or $2,000. One wealthier donor can cover your state, or 100 smaller ones. Please help get your state activists to help. Just click the “Donate” button on this screen to get started. Your donations are not tax deductable – Please read the Donation page for all of the FEC Required information.
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